‘Modern Family’ Season 2 Promises An Earthquake, Exes and Cam’s Mom

On Monday night much of the ‘Modern Family‘ writing staff gathered for a panel sponsored by the Writers Guild of America and the Paley Center in Los Angeles. With the show’s 14 Emmy nominations, including one for writing the pilot, they were in a great mood. On the red carpet, they managed to reveal a few spoilers and tidbits about the show’s sophomore season.

Meet The Parent: Said co-executive producer Paul Corrigan, “Cameron’s (played by Eric Stronestreet) mom will make an appearance. Some [actresses] names have been mentioned, but I don’t know whether I want to go near it.”

Shaking Things Up: “A minor earthquake spins into separate stories,” Corrigan revealed. Added writer Danny Zuker, “One of the characters does sleep through it or is not aware of it.”

When Stage Moms and Ex-Girlfriends Attack!: Co-executive producer Dan O’Shannon had the loosest lips of the group – if he was telling the truth. “Maybe there will be an episode Dan [Zuker] has written where Cameron turns into a bit of a stage Mom. Manny might have a little luck falling in love on a date,” he hinted. Added co-executive producer Bill Wrubel, “Maybe Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) will see an old girlfriend he used to have…. Wait until Cam finds out.”

Jay Talking: Said Corrigan, “We have an episode where part of it takes place at Jay’s work; I don’t know what he does. I do know that the scene involves a forklift. There are dock people doing dock things.” Co-creator Steven Levitan said that in the writers’ minds, “[Jay]’s had about 12 jobs. We come up with the perfect one and change our minds next week.”

Emmy-Caliber Partying: According to Levitan, after the show was nominated for 14 Emmys, “Whoever was in town… got together at a divey Mexican restaurant and had margaritas that night.” Bill Wrubel already has his Emmy outfit picked out: “It’s so fun to be on something that people are enjoying and it’s like, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll wear the tuxedo I usually never wear.'”

‘Glee’-ful Rivalry: Levitan declined to express an opinion about whether it was fair for hour-long dramedies to compete with half hour sitcoms in the Outstanding Comedy Series category, but he was confident the ‘Modern Family’ team could at least take the ‘Glee’ writers in a steel cage match. “We would win for sure because we have about three times as many writers as they do. Although Ryan Murphy’s a bad ass. He’s scrappy. But we would lose in a dance fight.”

A Family Within the ‘Family’: Said co-executive producer Brad Walsh, “Paul [Corrigan] and I are a writing team. We are not gay, but we become [Cameron and Mitchell] in our office when we’re writing those scenes.” Joked Corrigan, “There’s some kissing.” Walsh agreed: “It gets a little physical.”

Who Reported A Robbery?: Said Wrubel, “One of the negative feelings that came from [the nominations] was that Ed O’Neill was not celebrated as he should have been. He’s so good. He really is the anchor of the show.”

The Not-So-Secret ‘Modern Family’ Formula: According to Levitan, the best episodes boast “a nice mixture of good writing and great acting and really solid comedy, with a nice dose of heart.”

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.